Nike sets up groundbreaking partnership with bluesign
19/03/2013
Previously, to access the tools and data, a brand has had to take its supply chain partners through individual factory assessments. For an outsourced global supply chain as extensive as Nike’s, this process would have taken years and a significant investment to complete.
Under this new agreement, Nike’s suppliers will have open access to bluesign technologies’ key tools and data at at nominal cost. The tools will now be rolled out across Nike suppliers in more than 800 factores in 50 countries.
These tools include the bluesign bluefinder and the bluesign blueguide. The first of these allows suppliers to have access to information about textile preparations that bluesign has approved as being more sustainable than many traditional alternatives (including dye systems, detergents and other process chemicals used in the manufacturing process). The blue finder also allows manufacturers to manage restricted substances lists and can also help them achieve greater water- and energy-efficiency.
For its part, the blueguide gives Nike access to more than 30,000 materials produced using chemicals from the bluefinder at facilities that have already undergone rigorous assessment, materials, in other words, that have already been approved.
Nike introduced a restricted substances list in 2001 and, like other major apparel and footwear brands, continues to work to eliminate hazardous substances from its supply chain.
Its vice-president for sustainable business and innovation, Hannah Jones, has the partnership with bluesign will be a significant step in the company’s sustainable materials strategy. She said at the time of the announcement: “Nike is committed to catalysing a major change in the world of materials, driving for the elimination of hazardous substances and [bringing in] new, sustainable materials. To shift to a palette of entirely sustainable materials multiple stakeholders must work together to [introduce] new chemistry, encourage the use and scale of better chemistry, and eliminate harmful chemistry.”
Peter Waeber, bluesign technologies chief executive, has credited Nike for challenging his organisation to change its business model to meet the scale required by global brands. “Nike was persistent with us in working to find a scalable solution for a supply chain as large as theirs,” he said. “With the rollout of a positive list of textile chemicals for its broad supplier base, Nike can support its supply chain to improve chemical sourcing and deliver positive environmental and consumer safety benefits.”
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